LaCie 4TB Porsche Design USB-C + USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive

Overview

Melding advanced functionality and iconic minimalist design, the LaCie Porsche Design USB-C Mobile Hard Drive delivers speeds of up to 5 Gbps for rapidly transferring data to and from your USB-C–enabled MacBook or Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)–enabled MacBook Pro. All it takes is a simple drag and drop to store your movies, photos, music, and data. The drive also ensures compatibility with Mac computers and PCs that have standard USB (USB-A) ports, thanks to an included USB-C to USB-A cable.

Highlights

USB-C connectivity for current and future systems

Compatible with USB 3.0 ports using included adapter cable

Delivers speeds up to 5 Gbps

Lightweight and sturdy all-aluminum enclosure by Porsche Design

What’s in the Box

LaCie Porsche Design USB-C + USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive

USB-C cable

USB-C to USB-A cable

Quick install guide

Tech Specs

Connections: USB-C

Power Source: USB

Height: 0.83 in./2.1 cm

Length: 5.04 in./12.8 cm

Width: 3.31 in./8.4 cm

Weight: 11.3 oz./320 g

Manufacturer Information

Part Number

Mfr. Part Number: STFD4000400

UPC or EAN No.: 763649089880

Warranty

Note: Products sold through this website that do not bear the Apple Brand name are serviced and supported exclusively by their manufacturers in accordance with terms and conditions packaged with the products. Apple’s Limited Warranty does not apply to products that are not Apple-branded, even if packaged or sold with Apple products. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support and customer service.

Drive Failure

I purchased this drive just under two months ago and have only been actively using it for a month. The drive is showing as unreadable and macOS has failed to re
I purchased this drive just under two months ago and have only been actively using it for a month. The drive is showing as unreadable and macOS has failed to repair it. I have never encountered issues this substantial in a new drive before and given the obviously higher than usual price point I expected quality. I am sorry to say I was mistaken.

Written by JP M from Pittsburgh

Jan 12, 2017

62 of 73 people found this useful

Is this review useful?Drive Failure

5.0 out of 5 stars

awesome drive, the only one on the market with most up to date tech

it works well, quite, fast. It comes with 2 cables, one for new USB-C and one for standard USB port.
it's 4TB, and it's USB Get 3.1 speed. It's stylish.
And
it works well, quite, fast. It comes with 2 cables, one for new USB-C and one for standard USB port.
it's 4TB, and it's USB Get 3.1 speed. It's stylish.
And that makes it the only drive like that available

Written by Dmitri Z from Burlingame

Oct 12, 2016

54 of 62 people found this useful

Is this review useful?awesome drive, the only one on the market with most up to date tech

4.0 out of 5 stars

Power Issues

Because this drive and the MacBook have only a single USB-C drive, and Apple does not sell a USB-C to 2x USB-C cable or adapter, the drive can only be used dire
Because this drive and the MacBook have only a single USB-C drive, and Apple does not sell a USB-C to 2x USB-C cable or adapter, the drive can only be used directly with the MacBook on battery power, not with external power.
You can connect the drive to a USB-3 & USB-C to USB-C connector (e.g. USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter), then use the connector to connect to external power and the MacBook. Not very elegant.
With these caveats, the drive seems good; nice to have 4 TB for big cameras.

Written by Dawn P from Bragg Creek

Apr 26, 2016

66 of 98 people found this useful

Is this review useful?Power Issues

1.0 out of 5 stars

AVOID

Failed after 10 months now must pay a company to try and recover data. AVOID.

Written by Stephen W from GENEVE

May 4, 2018

1 of 1 people found this useful

Is this review useful?AVOID

2.0 out of 5 stars

Style Over Substance

Great looking small drive but I get on average 15 MB/s second transfer rates...my 10 old bulky WD external drive is faster :/

Written by Phu M from Shrewsbury

Apr 5, 2018

0 of 1 people found this useful

Is this review useful?Style Over Substance

5.0 out of 5 stars

Ignore the finger-cutting warnings

Bought this drive in April 2018. Maybe the drive design has changed since 2017 when (some) people complained of finger cuts; I wouldn't know. But I can tell y
Bought this drive in April 2018. Maybe the drive design has changed since 2017 when (some) people complained of finger cuts; I wouldn't know. But I can tell you that I simply cannot believe anyone could cut their fingers on the edge of the drive I bought yesterday, no matter how hard they tried nor how often they handle it. If anything the edges are less sharp than my smaller Porsche design drives (next paragraph), and I've never had a finger cut from handling either of them. I asked the sale rep at the Apple Store about the posts complaining about this, and he just laughed. For good reason.
I use the drive as a safe-deposit-box backup of my main data drive, so will only access it maybe twice or three times a year, therefore I can't yet comment on the performance over time. But I've got two smaller La Cie Porsche drives I've been using for safe-deposit-box backups of my OS and another drive, have handled them to refresh the backups occasionally for several years now, and have experienced no data loss nor any other problems with them. I see no reason to worry about the 4TB drive being any different (though it is thicker than the other two, it still fits nicely in a standard safe deposit box). I had no problems with a wobbly USB-C cable either, as some other reviews have reported. So if that was a problem in the past, it isn't on my purchase.
I also own two larger desktop 4TB La Cie Thunderbolt drives which I've been using daily for about three years now, and they're as reliable today as they were when I got them. I think you can trust La Cie drives from Apple.

Answer

I've done this for several years now, with no problem, with the 2TB version and with La Cie's larger
I've done this for several years now, with no problem, with the 2TB version and with La Cie's larger desktop 4TB models that I got a while ago. However, be aware that your time machine backups will expand to fill the space available for them, which may constrain how much data room you have unless you decide to store a limited number of files on the device before you start storing time machine backups. Once the drive is nearly filled with whatever combination of general storage and time machine backups is on it at that point, Time Machine will keep adding new backups but deleting the old ones, and you won't have much if any space for new general storage files on the drive.

Answer

Of course. You have a 14 day return policy, even if the unit is opened as a long as you keep the ori
Of course. You have a 14 day return policy, even if the unit is opened as a long as you keep the original packaging.